Brief score: India (216/3 in 20 ovs) defeat Sri Lanka (69 all-out in 15.4 ovs) by 147 runs in Nagoya.
India finally had their gold-medal moment at the 2026 Asian Games, and they did not leave much room for doubt about who deserved it. Smriti Mandhana’s brilliant 79 and Shafali Verma’s all-round brilliance powered India to a crushing 147-run win over Sri Lanka in the women’s cricket final, delivering the country’s first gold of the Games and a second straight Asian Games title.
There was a nice symmetry to the occasion. Sri Lanka were the opponents when India won cricket’s first Asian Games gold in Hangzhou in 2023, and they had also been on the losing side against India in the Women’s Asia Cup final earlier this month. The same final, the same two teams, but this time India made sure there was never really a final-over finish to worry about.
India vs Sri Lanka, Asian Games 2026 women’s cricket final: HIGHLIGHTS
The tone was set almost immediately. Mandhana and Shafali walked out after India chose to bat and played as though someone had forgotten to tell them this was supposed to be a cautious final. Sri Lanka tried spin, changed ends and shuffled the field. The response was largely the same: another boundary.
By the end of the powerplay, India were 59 without loss. Mandhana was finding gaps and clearing the ropes with that familiar mixture of elegance and authority, while Shafali was doing what she does best, turning anything slightly loose into an invitation.
The opening pair put on 99 from 60 balls and, in doing so, took much of the suspense out of the evening. Shafali’s 48 was the spark, Mandhana’s 79 was the substance, and Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 49 from 22 balls was the flourish that took India to 216 for 3, the highest total ever posted in women’s cricket at the Asian Games.
MANDHANA OWNS THE OCCASION
Some players seem to need a few overs to feel their way into a final. Mandhana rarely gives herself that luxury.
She was already three steps ahead when Sri Lanka went to spin. Sugandika Kumari was swept and driven, Mithali Ayodhya was lifted over extra cover, and when Athapaththu brought herself on, Shafali immediately joined the fun.
There was one over in particular that captured India’s mood. Athapaththu bowled the fifth, hoping to put the brakes on. Instead, Shafali pulled one into the stands, cleared mid-off with the next, and then Mandhana stepped out and sent another soaring straight down the ground.
Nineteen runs later, Sri Lanka were still searching for an answer.
That was the feeling of the innings. India were not scrambling for runs; they were deciding where the runs would come from.
Mandhana’s 79 was particularly pleasing because it never looked like an innings in which she was chasing a milestone. She simply kept taking what Sri Lanka offered, and then taking a little more. Seven sixes and five fours eventually decorated the scorecard, but the impression she left was of someone completely in control of the occasion.
There was a milestone anyway.
Her innings took her beyond 11,000 international runs, making her the first woman cricketer to reach that landmark. It was a remarkable achievement, but on a night when India were chasing gold, Mandhana barely paused to acknowledge it.
She looked on course for a hundred before being caught in the deep. By then, the job had largely been done.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s 19 will mean the questions about her batting form are not going away, but India were fortunate to have enough firepower around their captain. Richa Ghosh took over in the final overs and turned the volume up again, launching India past 200 and finishing unbeaten on 49.
When the innings closed at 216 for 3, Sri Lanka had a target. India had something more useful: belief that the match was already theirs to lose.
SHAFALI NEVER LEAVES THE STORY
Shafali’s 48 was only half the evening.
She had spent the first innings bullying the bowling, but the more interesting part of her performance came when she returned with the ball. It was almost as if she had decided that if Mandhana was going to own the batting story, she would make sure her name stayed in the second innings too.
Imesha Dulani tried to break free against her and was stumped. Hasini Perera tried the same approach and picked out Bharti Fulmali.
Two wickets, two batters trying to force the pace, and Shafali twice getting the better of them.
It is becoming a familiar pattern in big games. In the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup final, Shafali had made 87 before taking two wickets against South Africa. India won that final and she was named Player of the Match. Here, the numbers were different, but the instinct was the same: when the match got bigger, Shafali got involved everywhere.
Sri Lanka’s best chance of making a chase of 217 rested on Athapaththu. She had made 29 and, for a brief spell, looked capable of giving the chase some pulse.
Deepti Sharma removed that possibility.
Athapaththu went for the big shot, was beaten in flight and sent a catch towards long-off. Fulmali held on, and the Sri Lankan captain walked away knowing that her wicket had probably taken the last bit of hope with it.
India could sense it too.
A GOLD-MEDAL FINISH
From that point, the match became less about whether Sri Lanka could chase 217 and more about how long they could delay the inevitable.
India’s spinners were relentless without needing to be spectacular. Deepti kept squeezing the scoring, took three wickets and made sure Sri Lanka never found the sort of partnership that could shift the mood.
There was no frantic celebration after every dot ball. India simply kept going. Another over, another quiet spell, another wicket. The Sri Lankan batters kept looking for a way out of the pressure and kept finding India’s fielders instead.
Eventually, Sri Lanka were all out for 69.
A 147-run win does not really leave much room for interpretation, but the manner of it mattered more than the margin. India had been ahead from the first six overs and never gave Sri Lanka a genuine opening to change the game.
Mandhana had given them the class. Shafali had given them the edge. Richa had supplied the late fireworks. Deepti and the rest of the attack had taken care of the other half.
And then there was the gold.
India had arrived in Nagoya without a medal. They leave this evening with their first gold of the 2026 Asian Games, earned by a women’s cricket team that has now won this title twice.
The story has come full circle since Hangzhou. Cricket made its Asian Games debut in 2023, India beat Sri Lanka in the final and walked away with gold. Three years later, the same opponents stood between them and another title.
The result was the same.
The difference was that this time India did not simply win the final. They took it over.
– Ends
